New WRX: get one while you can

The saga of the new Subaru Impreza WRX model, longtime favourite of Autocar’s, rumbles on. First they tell us they’re not going to sell it in the UK; then they tell us they will. And now there’s another in the tale; it seems you can have a proper WRX model if you’re a UK buyer, but only if you’re quick enough out of the blocks.The new 227bhp, 236 lb ft, five-door Impreza WRX will go on sale this November, as reported, but in very limited numbers. Subaru will bring in just 350 examples of the car in the first year of its life, and only 1000 in all. That should make it rarer than the more expensive £30k STi model, which launches here in Spring 2008 and will be available in unlimited numbers.

The other WRX

If you miss out on one of those hen’s-teeth-like petrol-powered WRX models, though, there’s always the increasingly promising possibility that you’ll be able to buy a diesel WRX – a WRD, as it could be badged – before the end of the new Impreza’s lifecycle.According to British Importers the IM Group, Subaru is on the brink of signing up to produce a version of the warm Impreza fitted with its new 2.0-litre flat four turbodiesel engine. If our estimations are correct, that should make for a version of the Impreza with around 160bhp, some 260lb ft or torque, and capable of a 40mpg average.